Tennis’s ‘big names’ leave one-handed backhand out of Grand Slam semifinals for first time in 150 years

Stefanos Tsitsipas had joked that he carried a 150-year streak to protect. He could not save it. His 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 defeat to Ben Shelton at the US Open ensured that no player using a one-handed backhand will reach a Grand Slam semifinal for the first time in 150 years.

Tsitsipas, one of the few remaining one-handed backhand players on the ATP Tour, had recently referred to the stroke’s “danger of extinction.” His elimination leaves Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti, Canada’s Denis Shapovalov and Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov as fellow practitioners already knocked out in New York. Shelton will next meet Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals.

“

I have a 150-year streak to save.

The decline has also prompted reflection from Roger Federer, the legendary player who turned the one-handed backhand into an iconic weapon. Federer said the change begins with coaching. When he was growing up, he estimated that 90% of his coaches used a one-handed backhand, making it more likely that their pupils would adopt it. Today, he said, most coaches use two hands, and teaching children that way is easier.

“

I love seeing one-handed backhand players do well. When I was growing up, I would say 90% of my coaches had a one-handed backhand.

Federer also pointed to racket and string technology, possibly slower balls and courts, and the reduced emphasis on transitions and volleys. He described his own era as roughly a 50-50 balance between net play and baseline tennis. Earlier generations, he said, played even more at the net, while modern tennis is closer to 90% baseline play.

The two-handed backhand, Federer added, allows players to defend especially well from open stances and while sliding, as Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have demonstrated. The old belief that a one-handed backhand offered an advantage on that side no longer appears to hold as clearly.

“

That is why I think the two-handed backhand allows you, especially with the open stance and sliding, as we have seen Rafa and Novak do, to defend incredibly well on that side.